UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday urged parties to the conflict in Syria to make every effort to protect children and the infrastructure they depend on, including hospitals and schools, as violence has intensified over the past few days, especially in villages in northern Hama and southern Idlib.

Tens of thousands of children in northwest Syria are at imminent risk of injury, death and displacement because of a significant escalation in fighting, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

This latest escalation follows months of rising violence in the area which has reportedly left at least 134 children dead and more than 125,000 displaced since the beginning of the year, she said.

She said that nearly 30 hospitals have come under attack and the spike in violence has forced some of UNICEF's health care partners to suspend their lifesaving operations.

Approximately 43,000 children are now out of school and final exams in parts of Idlib have been postponed, affecting the education of 400,000 students, according to UNICEF.

"UNICEF's partners are on the ground in the northwest, working to reach children and families with mobile health clinics, immunization and nutrition services, psychosocial support and water and sanitation supplies. But these are quick fixes that can go only so far in mitigating the humanitarian fallout from such brutal and gratuitous violence," she said.